There are three types of surveillance, air-to-air, air-to-sea, and air-to-ground. Air-to-Air basically gives an early warning of attacking enemies, extends a defensive perimeter, and helps coordinate with allied aviation forces to execute air-to-surface attacks or fighter sweeps (Vallance 141) (P2). One of example of air-to-air surveillance is when the Israeli's took on the Syrians and took out 85 of their aircraft in less than two months and they had no loses. .
Air-to-sea is like its counterpart air-to-air, its been around for awhile, since the World War II days. In 1980 air-to-sea classifications radar were introduced to the military. Air-to-ground surveillance also came out around that time and is used to execute attacks by air, but also on the ground with multiple-launch rocket systems, long-range artillery and tactical ballistic missiles (Vallance 141). Air surveillance and reconnaissance are best used during peacetime and serve as preventative measures for attacks and detect build ups of arms. They can also be used for arms-control, such as in Iraq. One of the best successes of surveillance was the Cuban Missile Crisis, when an U.S. U2 spy plane found soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba during 1962. Pictures where taken from high above and was proof that the Russians were building missiles in Cuba. Parson said that Soviet artillery could hit America from Cuba if the U.S. were to attack (48) (IQ 1).
Air Reconnaissance and surveillance has another function, search and rescue operations which "involve the use of aircraft to locate and rescue people in distress"(Vallance 147) (DQ 2). Military personnel and civilians are rescued by search and rescue teams. Part of the search and rescue operations are air evacuations, basically evacuating military or civilians from hot zones or hostile tensions. One instance was back in 1928, the British government had to evacuate 586 British nationals, with a Vernon bomber/transport out of Kabul, in a two month period (Vallance 147).